The First: A Basketball State Title for Massillon

March 22, 2026, marked the first time the Massillon Tigers basketball team appeared in a state tournament since 1945. Led by head coach Josh Hose, the team claimed its first state championship title in the program’s history. Headed into the state finals against reigning Division II champions Westerville North of Columbus, the Tigers held a 27–1 record, which included a twenty-four-game winning streak. Both their number of wins and this winning streak marked new records for Washington High’s basketball program.

Prior to this season, the closest the Massillon Tigers basketball team had ever come to winning a state championship title was under head coach Paul Brown, whose 1937 basketball squad went to the Class-A championship game before losing to Hamilton. Since then, the Massillon’s basketball program has had its ups and downs, having made a single regional tournament appearance in 2003.

Throughout their playoff run, Hose’s team battled back from late game deficits, and the finale was no different. Cheered on by their Massillon community, the Tigers rallied from a fifteen-point deficit in the third quarter to send the game into overtime, allowing the team to break ahead and earn its first state championship title.